with any suspected Milam County ancestors, I would need a given name as well as a surname. Then I would look

under each cemetery that the surname appears to see if the given name individual was interred.

Jack Brooks

*****

2016-06-10

Jack, I was hoping to see if there were some of my relations buried there without markers.

I am related to the Johnsons, Dodds and Lytles. My direct line is the Johnsons.

There is a marker close to the Dodds and Thomas J Johnson that is broken. I was hoping to find out who is

buried under that specific marker. Also, if there are any Johnsons that are buried there that are not marked

with a marker or headstone.

I appreciate all your help. I have not heard from anyone with the Sand Grove Church of Christ and/or cemetery.

John

*****

2016-06-08

Mr. Covington,

I haven't heard from Ms. Carolyn Vinton regarding the email that I sent to her. I also haven't received any

response from Mr. Bobby or Rodney Coldiron regarding the personal letters that I sent to both of them(see

attachment).

Since I provided your contact information (website reference) as well, would they have possibly responded to

your inquiry without my knowledge?. If you haven't heard from them, I'm not sure how to proceed from here to

assist you.

Our Church services are a considerable distance away so I would be unable to visit Sand Grove Church during

Sunday worship services when the Pastor is there.

Are you searching for a particular individual/ family members interment?. If so, I might be able to assist you

further if you provide the name of said individual.

Regards,

Jack Brooks

*****

2016-06-10

Jack

Thanks for updating the 1999 to present headstones. I will notate them in my genealogy files. I am sharing

your info and emails with a cousin (Johnson) in Oklahoma.

John Covington

*****

2016-06-10

John, Is there a chance that some of your other ancestors may be interred in other neighboring Milam County

cemeteries?. The reason that I ask that is because if you're not familiar with it, there's an index of

surname's that goes along w/ the cemetery books. It lists all 235 cemetery's in which that surname is found.

I'd be happy to look for any of your ancestors if you think that that's a possibility. For example, my wife's

great grandfather was interred in his second wife's family cemetery when he expired before his wife. My

wife's family was up in arms, because they wanted him interred with the rest of his family. There was nothing

that they could do about the situation. She never even provided a headstone for him. We know where his remains

are located since the cemetery (and his late wife's family plot) was later surveyed with ground penetrating

radar. My 96 year young mother in law is lobbying that we fulfill a bucket list request and place a

conservative headstone on his plot after 86 years (1930).

Jack Brooks

*****

2016-06-13

Mr Brooks, My name is Charlotte Jones. My Dad is Bobby Coldiron. He showed me the letter you sent him about

Mr. Covington needing a list of the interred at Sand Grove. He asked me to reply to you thru email sinc he

does not do email. He has a partial list and by that I mean a very partial list. Something that I am not

sure would help with the date listed in the letter. He told me that Mr Covington is more than welcome to come

visit the cemetery at any time to take a look at the grave sites. Thanks for contacting my dad about this.

Sorry we are not much help. We have both talked about setting aside a time and making a list but that has not

happened as of yet.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Jones

cjones(AT)milanoisd(DOT)net

*****

2016-06-15

Ms Jones, Thank you for your kindness in relying to Mr. Covington's inquire.

I did make a recent field visit to the cemetery and documented all interments since 1999 and added those not

already documented to the Find-A-Grave website. Since his family's ancestry goes back many years in the Sand

Grove Cemetery, he was not able to locate family headstone of some of those documented in the cemetery. As

you know, some are illegible and/or broken. Some headstones may have never been placed at all or merely a

stone placed. He was hoping for some sort of formal Church or Cemetery Association records that may have

documented all of the interments since he cemeteries inception.

Between Ms. Holman's 170 Years of Cemetery Records in Milam County, Texas Volume. I & II and my recent

headstone inventory, I believe that all existing and legible headstones are inventoried.

Ms. Jones, once again, thank you for your thoughtfulness. Would you please relay to your father and Sand

Grove Cemetery Association members that the Milam County Historical Commission sincerely appreciates their

dedication to the continuing maintenance and preservation of the historic Sand Grove Cemetery.

Jack Brooks

*****

2016-06-16

Jack, I really appreciate all your efforts in securing information for me. I have been to the Sand Grove

Cemetery on 2 different occasions and photographed all those markers that were my relations (at least those I

knew were related to me). I am sending you a photo that I took that I am trying to identify who is buried in

the plot. It is close to Thomas Jefferson Johnson Jr (my Great-Great-Grandfather's brother) will also cc to Ms

Jones to see if she knows who it is. The stone appears to had the last letters HER across the top and what

appears to be HNSON and the number 22 at the bottom of the stone marker. Could this be F. Johnson (I have no

clue to who that might be) from the list that you sent me of the interred at Sand Grove. There is a large

cedar tree at the head of the maker and the Dodd and Lytle and Johnson and McLean and Maddox and Varner and

Ross relations are buried close to each other there.

I did find that the Houston Clayton Genealogy Library here has a reference copy (V1 & V2) by Norinne Holder

Holman. I am trying to make the time to get downtown to visit the library in the next few days.

John Covington

*****

2016-06-16

John, My first thought was father or mother at the top of the tablet. Did you happen to do any probing in the

vicinity of the marker to see if any remaining pieces may be buried? I can't tell you how many times we were

able to reconstruct a knocked over, broken and buried tablet headstone this way.

I fabricate a probe by using a piece of 3/8 inch round bar stock 3 feet long. Then sharpen one end on a

grinding stone, tap the other end with a 3/8 inch coarse die for about 2 1/2 - 3 inches. Then run 2 nuts to

the bottom of the threaded rod and bind them together with 2 wrenches. Then take a 1-foot section of broom

handle or whatever you have handy, drill it in the middle with a 7/16 inch drill bit. Slide it down the rod

and double nut again at the top. You're now ready to treasure hunt.

Jack Brooks

*****

2016-06-18

I revisited the cemetery today and attempted to find the remaining pieces to the broken headstone in question.

Since this cemetery is laid out like a majority of other Christian cemeteries, with all the headstones facing

East, as soon as I saw this stone facing Sough, I suspected that it was reset by a layman. I found absolutely

no shards of concrete in my thorough probing of a 10 foot radius around the marker. I did locate a buried

footstone about five feet away and then probed and found the matching buried headstone of Thomas Bankston. It

appears that over the years all the large magnolia tree leaves decomposed and covered the flat

headstone/footstone. Thomas's headstone was previously inventoried.

Thinking that our suspect headstone may have been hit by a mowing machine and relocated that way, I probed all

the vacant adjacent rows and empty spaces and came up empty handed. I had hoped to turn up something for you

but it appears that it just wasn't in the stars.

Jack Brooks

*****

30. Loy Earl Woolverton; Dec. 19, 1933-Dec. 22, 2011

31. Harold Delbert Woolverton; May 2,1935- Apr. 3,2013

32. Sue Schlagal Myers; Jan. 29, 1941- Dec. 2, 2007

33. Paul Gene Mc Neil; July 19, 1939- May 14, 2016

2016-06-27

Charlotte Jones

Mr. Covington, I checked with my dad and the partial list he has shows that grave to be unknown. My husband and I went and looked at the site because my husband and dad said there were some pieces of stone that had been moved to mow but we could not find any of those pieces. They may not have even been to that headstone but we thought we would give it a try. If I find anything else out from anyone else, I will let you know. Sorry.
Thanks,
Charlotte Jones
*****

2016-06-16Mr. Covington, I will check with my dad and see if he has anything on this. My grandfather, Alton Coldiron may have possibly told my dad who was there. I will let you know what he says. Have a good day.

Charlotte Jones

*****

2016-06-15
John Covington

Jack,I really appreciate all your efforts in securing information for me. I have been to the Sand Grove Cemetery on 2 different occasions and photographed all those markers that were my relations (at least those that I knew were related to me).I am sending you a photo that I took that I am trying to identify who is buried in the plot. It is close to Thomas Jefferson Johnson Jr (my great-great-grandfather's brother) will also cc to Ms Jones to see if she knows who it is. The stone appears to had the last letters HER across the top and what appears to me HNSON and the number 22 at the bottom of the stone marker. Could this be F Johnson (I have no clue to who that might be) from the list that you sent me of the interred at Sand Grove. There is a large cedar tree at the head of the marker and the Dodd and Lytle and Johnson and McLean and Maddox and Varner and Ross relations are buried close to each other there.I did find that the Houston Clayton Genealogy Library here has a reference copy (V1 and V2) by Mr (or is it ms?) Norinne Holder Holman. I am trying to make the time to get downtown to visit the library in the next few days.

Thanks again,
John Brooks *****

Ms. Jones, Thank you for your kindness in relying to Mr. Covington's inquiry. I did make a recent field visit to the cemetery and documented all interments since 1999 and added those not already documented to the Find a Grave website. Since his families ancestry goes back many years in the Sand Grove Cemetery, he was not able to locate family headstone of some of those documented in the cemetery. As you know, some are illegible and/or broken. Some headstones may have never been placed at all or merely a stone placed. He was hoping for some sort of formal Church or Cemetery Association records that may have documented all of the interments since the cemeteries inception. Between Ms. Holman's 170 Years of Cemetery Records in Milam County, Texas, Vol. I&2 and my recent headstone inventory, I believe that all existing and legible headstones are inventoried.

*****

Ms. Jones, once again, thank you for your thoughtfulness. Would you please relay to your father and the Sand Groves Cemetery Association members that the Milam County Historical Commissions sincerely appreciates their dedication to the continuing maintenance and preservation of the historic Sand Grove Cemetery. Sincerely and respectfully,
Jack Brooks *****